


The Paths We Take

by meng_ren



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 12:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4961053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meng_ren/pseuds/meng_ren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Myungsoo is the dutiful Lieutenant to Captain Sungyeol. When a vacancy opens up amongst the Gotei 13's captain ranks, Myungsoo worries if things will stay that way.</p><p>[Bleach AU]</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Paths We Take

**Author's Note:**

> No knowledge of the series Bleach, by Tite Kubo, should be necessary to understand this story.

The two pieces of the Hollow, bisected in half by a slash of Myungsoo’s zanpakuto, fell to the ground with a thud. The Lieutenant didn’t even wince at the noise.

“That’s our Lieutenant Kim for you,” one of the shinigami watching said with a smile. “He killed that Menos Grande-level Hollow with ease.”

“The biggest question is why Lieutenant Kim doesn’t try to pass the Captain’s Exam when there’s an opening available,” said another of the shinigami, watching their Lieutenant just a short distance away.

Myungsoo waved both the shinigami off with a slightly flustered look on his face. “Don’t say that. It’s a really hard test. You need to master bankai, the second and final release of your zanpakuto’s powers, and prove that you’re an expert fighter. Or the other captains have to recommend and approve of you. You know I couldn’t do that.”

“Not true!” The younger of the two subordinate shinigami, Sungjong, protested. “Maybe not immediately, but you should try to aim for another captain’s spot. There’s now an opening at the 13th Division now that Captain Jeon retired last month. You’re more talented than the other lieutenants. You should at least consider it, Lieutenant Kim.”

Myungsoo frowned, voice stern. “That’s enough, 5th Rank Lee. I won’t try to be captain, and that’s final. Don’t mention it again.”

“Of course, Lieutenant Kim, it won’t happen again” Sungjong replied, bowing down low. He turned towards the other 5th Seat. “Come on, Dongwoo, let’s go and tell the Captain that we’re finished over here.”

As his two subordinates left, Myungsoo glanced down at his sword. He allowed himself to think a bit. It was true that there was a vacancy amongst the captains. But it wasn’t a pressing urgency. There were a few Lieutenants and Seated Officers in the Gotei 13 who were ready to step up and wear the captain’s robe. Myungsoo didn’t know whether they would pass the captain’s test, but he figured that one of them had to be capable enough. He didn’t need to aim for that position.

Myungsoo began peering at the state of his sword. His zanpakuto, Takahane, had predictably begun to chip along the blade in its shikai form, the first release of a zanpakuto, due to repeated use cutting down Hollow after Hollow. Myungsoo allowed his zanpakuto to return to its standard katana form. No sooner had he sheathed the zanpakuto when his captain arrived.

“Myungsoo!” Came a loud enthusiastic voice, quickly growing louder as a certain captain used the shunpo technique to move at superhuman speeds. As Myungsoo turned around he felt himself knocked ten feet back as Sungyeol embraced him. The two of them landed on the floor in a tussle.

“Captain Lee,” Myungsoo protested, rising to his feet and dusting dirt off of his robes. “Boundaries, please!”

“I’m sorry,” Sungyeol responded with a laugh, still on the floor. “I’m just proud that you managed to defeat all of those Hollows in such quick time. This mission was supposed to take three days, and we’re done after six hours.”

“It’s all thanks to your training, Captain Lee,” Myungsoo said quickly, bowing. “I could not have done this without you.”

Sungyeol stood up, putting his hands on his hips, and looked at Myungsoo again. “I know it, Seireitei’s Lee family only surrounds themselves with the best. What would the 3rd Division be without you helping me?”

Myungsoo blushed at the praise but raced to return it. “They would do just fine. You’re a capable captain, Captain Lee.”

“Oh stop it, Myungsoo, stop trying to flatter me,” Sungyeol said, throwing his head back. But he put one hand around Myungsoo’s shoulder and pointed back at the direction of Soul Society. “Let’s go back before it gets dark.”

Myungsoo allowed Sungyeol to take charge. The two of them walked back, the combined force of their reiatsu being sufficient to deter minor Hollows from attacking them.

 

—

 

When he first met Sungyeol, Myungsoo thought the new captain was an incompetent attention-seeker. Lee Sungyeol was a new transplant to the 3rd Division. The new captain had spent several decades over at the 5th Division, serving as a 3rd Seat. When the 3rd Division’s venerable captain Jo Jinhyun was promoted, Lee Sungyeol was imposed on the Division as the replacement.

It was a predictable decision. Lee Sungyeol was from a family called the Daihouei, the “Guards of the Great Treasure.” They had long protected Soul Society, first as the Soul King’s representatives, and then as a famous contributor to the Gotei 13. It was no surprise that one of such a storied family would be selected as a captain. It was almost preordained.

And with no discussion or input amongst the 3rd Division, Lee Sungyeol was brought in as the new Captain, to guide and supervise over one hundred members of the division.

Myungsoo had been the 3rd Division’s 6th Seat then. He was familiar but not close with the old Captain. When the new captain arrived, he expected to remain distant, serving as mid-ranking officer for a few more years. He thought that if he was promoted again, he would be in a new division.

Things changed quickly. The old Lieutenant was killed in action a few years later. The 3rd Seat was promoted to be a Lieutenant elsewhere, the 4th Seat retired after a long career, and the 5th Seat was promoted to be a 3rd Seat in another Division.

Two years after Sungyeol became Captain, he summoned Myungsoo to his office.

“6th Seat Kim,” Sungyeol said, leaning back as he sat on the ground. He had taken off the white, short-sleeved haori from the rest of his uniform. A mess of letters and papers rested on the desk before him.

Myungsoo bowed deeply before he entered the captain’s room, taking a seat before the captain. “Yes, Captain Lee?”

“Kim Myungsoo, things have been so difficult for me lately. I have only been here for two years, but my top four seated officers have all left me,” Sungyeol said, sighing.

“I’ve heard, Captain. What are you hoping to do about it?” Myungsoo asked.

“I don’t know, Kim Myungsoo. I was hoping you could help,” said Sungyeol, still reclined.

“How?” Myungsoo asked. He had a suspicion he knew.

“I want you be be my Lieutenant,” Sungyeol said.

“Sir? With all due respect, we do not have a very close working relationship. I am worried that I would not be suitable for such a position,” Myungsoo replied. He wasn’t sure if he was unqualified: he had in fact spent enough time in the Gotei 13 and gained enough experience to perform well.

Sungyeol shook his head. “You’ve been here longer than I have, you have the greatest seniority amongst the seated officers, and you know this Division well. I don’t have the time to train anybody else when I’m barely fitting in. You should be my lieutenant. Help me.”

Myungsoo paused to think. It wasn’t customary for shinigami to be promoted solely within one Division. Even the officers in the Eleventh Division, who had reason to pride themselves as the strongest Division, often transferred to other Divisions.

“How long would I be a lieutenant?” Myungsoo asked.

“As long as you wish,” Sungyeol said nonchalantly. The captain shrugged. “There will probably be a retirement amongst the captains sometime soon. Maybe you could try for a promotion then.”

Myungsoo rose up to bow. “I will serve as your lieutenant for as long as needed.”

“Excellent, Kim Myungsoo. You’re dismissed,” Sungyeol said.

And as Myungsoo walked back, he already began planning ahead, thinking out all of the possibilities in the future. If he was already a Lieutenant in one division, it would be almost impossible for him to be a Lieutenant in another division. Lieutenants only had one route for career advancement: promotion to be captain.

But now he needed to take that route. Myungsoo didn’t expect to become a captain in the 3rd Division, but that would have been his ideal. There was no way this was likely to happen. Rather than go let the 3rd Division go without a captain, the senior leaders of the Gotei 13 had sent some young upstart, barely older than Myungsoo, to be captain.

Myungsoo wasn’t going to put up with that. He would be captain. Not that he was hoping for Sungyeol to die so that he could lead the 3rd Division instead. He would just move to another Division. There would be no way he would let a man like Sungyeol, just one year older than him, command him any longer.

 

—

 

Their first mission together, as Captain and Lieutenant, was in Las Noches.

“Hollows are becoming even more numerous here,” said Sungyeol, gazing through the portal leading from Soul Society to Hueco Mundo. The Hollow World, as its name meant, was the realm of the Hollows.

“Do we know why?” Myungsoo responded calmly. He should have been worried: Hueco Mundo was a dangerous world, especially for just two shinigami, but Myungsoo had been in Hueco Mundo enough times that he was not worried.

“I don’t think so. It’s almost as if somebody, or something, has begun to control the Hollows,” Sungyeol said, as he stepped through the portal. Myungsoo followed suit quickly, and the portal closed behind them.

“That would be a very misfortunate thing,” Myungsoo said, voice skeptical.

Sungyeol gazed out towards Las Noches, the austere palace bone-white distant across a sea of sand, before turning to Myungsoo. “I’ll race you there,” he said with a small smile. “Try to keep up.”

Before Myungsoo could even say “What?” he felt a gust of wind as Sungyeol raced off into the distance, using the shunpo technique to advance many times quicker than what a normal human could run.

“Captain!” Myungsoo yelled, to no avail as Sungyeol continued to speed off. So Myungsoo smiled in response, digging his heels into the sands of Hueco Mundo, and he launched himself into the air. With each step he bounded even further than Sungyeol did. But he had to spend much more energy.

A race using shunpo? He must not have done that since he was still in the Shinigami Academy, several decades ago. It was fun in its own way to run at such high speeds. The trick to shunpo was using reiatsu to create a barrier in front. Otherwise, the friction alone would have slowed him down. Myungsoo could feel his own reiatsu, blue with red fringes, forming in front of him as he raced. And it wasn’t long before he could see his captain in sight, racing at the same speed before him.

Myungsoo gritted his teeth, his legs beginning to tire. He had been running for about half an hour, but with shunpo, a shinigami was running at meters every second. It was not meant to be marathon. He kept staring in front of him, straining to see if Sungyeol’s red and yellow reiatsu showed any indicators of slowing down.

And then he saw something shift in front of him, almost like trembling, and then he saw Sungyeol leap into the air, floating by manipulating reiatsu.

Myungsoo managed to stop almost immediately, and he realized why. In front of Las Noches, a small army of Hollows had formed. If he had to guess, he would have thought the Hollows had been alerted to his presence. It was clear the ground itself was trembling, and Myungsoo watched in surprise as several Gillian-class Hollows emerged from the sand, their organic, worm-like structures towering several stories into the air.

“Lieutenant Kim!” Sungyeol yelled, and Myungsoo turned towards the captain.

“What are your orders? Fight or retreat?” Myungsoo yelled back.

“Retreat? No! Let’s see who can kill the most Hollows. Loser buys the winner drinks for one night!” Sungyeol said, and he dove straight right into the middle of the nest, swiping at the lower form Hollows in front of him.

Myungsoo had to smile again. A competitive spirit. He appreciated that quality in the captains he served, regardless of Division.

“Fly, Takahane [Falcon’s Feather]!” Myungsoo yelled, raising his zanpakuto into the air. By yelling a command and stating the zanpakuto’s name, a shinigami could activate the zanpakuto’s shikai stage. Before his shikai, his zanpakuto looked like a standard katana. In its first release, Takahane itself took the form of a slightly smaller sword, but also created golden plate armor along Myungsoo’s right arm. Stemming from the armor guarding his forearm was a sort of metal wing, lined with feathers.

“What does your zanpakuto do?” Sungyeol yelled. The two of them had yet to fight together.

“It’s a melee type,” responded Myungsoo, trying to get his voice heard about the din. “It allows me to move extremely fast. Watch.”

In the span of less than one second, he managed to cut through no less than a dozen Hollows, moving swiftly in a dance as his zanpakuto enhanced his movements. A cut here, a cut there, and soon a dozen of the foes had fallen.

“It doesn’t really make you physically stronger, does it?” Sungyeol asked, cutting through a large group of Hollows. He ducked as one Hollow finally got close enough to hit him, and then raised a palm. “Hado 54: Haien [Abolishing Flame]!”

The blast of purple fire blew straight through the first Hollow before settling on a second Hollow and setting it on fire as well. Myungsoo quickly leapt out of the way using the power of his zanpakuto: otherwise he might have been caught too.

“Hey, Takahane is a girl’s spirit. She doesn’t make me stronger, but she helps me escape a lot more easier,” Myungsoo responded. He used shunpo to increase his already augmented speed, racing behind a Hollow to slash through its back. He pulled back into the air as two more Hollows tried to follow him. “Hado 33: Sokatsui [Blue Fire Crash Down].”

The blue colored blasts pierced one of the Hollows, allowing Myungsoo to stab its mask while it was weakened. It collapsed into dust. Its companion reeled back but not before Myungsoo smashed its mask with the butt of his zanpakuto. He continued to charge at the other Hollows, while Sungyeol soared above, descending temporarily to kill one or another Hollow.

“Aren’t you going to use your zanpakuto, Captain Lee?” Myungsoo asked.

Sungyeol shook his head as he rained down three more purple flames. “My shikai and bankai aren’t good for dealing with groups,” he responded. The three flames raced down and struck two Hollows, burning the first one into dust, and setting the second one on fire. Sungyeol stabbed the second Hollow in the neck, piercing and killing it. With that, the Hollows had all been defeated.

“Thirty-four!” Myungsoo said, panting.

Sungyeol was nowhere near as out of breath. “Twenty-two. I guess I’m buying you a drink when we get back.”

The two of them stopped to catch their breaths as they stared at the fallen Hollows around them.

“That was more than expected,” Sungyeol said. “Especially given how far we are from Las Noches. At this rate, we won’t fulfill our mission goal of scouting Las Noches and we’ll have to return.”

Myungsoo frowned. “Captain Lee,” he asked, hesitating.

“Yes, Lieutenant Kim?” Came the response.

“It’s about what you said. It’s true that there are a lot more Hollows than we expected. Do you think it’s possible that someone is sending them after us?” Myungsoo asked.

“I haven’t seen any reason why that would be the case. It was just a suggestion,” Sungyeol responded. He turned towards Las Noches. “Let’s just keep going.

They advanced for only half an hour before they encountered yet another group of Hollows. Though this group was the same size as the first, it consisted mostly of flying Hollows, forcing the two shinigami to expend additional energy to fight them in the sky. Myungsoo and Sungyeol defeated this group too, but by the time they finished, Myungsoo could feel himself panting in exhaustion. It was becoming harder and harder to maintain the same sharpness of his blade.

“Captain Lee, a word please?” Myungsoo responded, wiping sweat off his brow and out of his eyes. He could feel an unpleasant moisture on his hand, and looked at his palm to see blood. A Hollow must have cut him without him realizing it.

“What is it, Lieutenant Kim?” Sungyeol hissed, in frustration. His zanpakuto was of little use in the fights, and using kido was disproportionately draining.

“It’s about the Hollows. I’m sure that they are being controlled,” said Myungsoo. “Look at them: they’ve been moving in groups, and none of them show any signs of injuries. Though we’re deep in Hueco Mundo, the Hollows are healthy. It doesn’t look like they’ve been fighting amongst each other at all.”

“Are you suggesting something about that?” Sungyeol scoffed. “I’ve never heard about Hollows being ordered around.”

“I’m worried that somebody knew that we were coming, and are sending these Hollows after us,” pleaded Myungsoo.

“That’s nonsense,” Sungyeol retorted, “because only two captains knew about our mission. You think there’s a mole in the Gotei 13 warning Hollows that we are coming?”

“If it’s not that,” Myungsoo continued, “maybe it’s because our entry alerted the Hollows to our presence.”

Sungyeol rolled his eyes. “Ridiculous. Hueco Mundo is a Hollow-eat-Hollow world, literally. The idea that Hollows are organizing is absurd.”

Myungsoo’s absurd notion was tested a mere fifteen minutes later. Myungsoo and Sungyeol had met yet another group of Hollows, and they were nowhere close to Las Noches.

It happened while Myungsoo was grasping his forearm, where a Hollow’s tentacle had left a grazing wound.

“Excellent. I knew I could hunt even a Shinigami captain,” came a shrill, squawking voice.

Myungsoo turned around in panic, trying to scan for the source of the voice. His jaw dropped. In the sky, surrounded by the black forms of Gillian-class Hollows, was a thin, gangly Hollow shaped like a praying mantis. It was smaller than the normal Hollows. That probably meant one thing: it was an Adjuchas-class Hollow, a level above the Gillians and two above normal Hollows.

“Captain Lee, an Adjuchas!” Myungsoo yelled.

Sungyeol turned around, in shock, only to jump back as the numerous Gillian-class used their Cero ability to fire energy blasts.

“I see that, Lieutenant Kim!” Sungyeol yelled back, firing one more kido spell that cut another Hollow in half. He paused. Sungyeol and Myungsoo were still a distance away from the group of Hollows, which paused in firing the Ceros.

“Lieutenant, do you have any ideas?” Sungyeol asked, studying the scene before them.

“It will be hard to fight them at this distance. They will use Cero to attack us before we can get too close, and even if we get close, we don’t know what the Adjuchas can do,” Myungsoo answered rapidly, going through situations in his head. He bit his lip. “The only way we can find out what the Hollow can do is if we distract him.”

Sungyeol looked up and down at Myungsoo. “Well, I’m not going to be the distraction, will I?”

Myungsoo shook his head. “No, I will distract them. But it would be helpful if you could use your shikai, at the very least.”

“I know, Lieutenant Kim. Go and take out the Gillians, and I’ll take care of the rest,” Sungyeol said. “Watch me.”

Myungsoo nodded and began running towards the group of Hollows, when he heard Sungyeol speaking behind him.

“Subdue, Jiken Monju [Sword-wielding Manjusri]!” Sungyeol yelled. He raised his zanpakuto, then shaped like a katana, into the air, where beams of light wrapped around the sword. The sword refashioned itself in a different form, with jewels across the golden hilt and silver blade. Sungyeol then pointed it at the Hollows. Beams of golden light radiated from the sword, each beam hitting one of the Gillians.

Myungsoo barely had time to pay attention, focusing intently on dodging Cero beams.

“Myungsoo, head left!” Sungyeol yelled.

“Huh?” Myungsoo asked, taking a step to the left. Just as he stepped, he dodged a Cero beam as the Gillian physically lunged at him. He cut through the Gillian with Takahane.

“Go to left again, there’s a gap,” Sungyeol yelled.

Myungsoo didn’t see a gap, but the second he headed in that direction, two Gillians split towards opposite directions.

“Fly, Takahane!” Myungsoo yelled again. In one second, his speed dramatically increased, allowing to dance around the Gillians while slicing through them. With his zanpakuto’s ability, the very Cero blasts seemed to move in slow motion. At this range, the Hollows were packed too tightly to maneuver. Myungsoo cut them apart with ease, allowing him to stand right before the Adjuchas. He sneered. “Who is really the prey?”

The Adjuchas roared, lifting a scythe-like arm. “I didn’t know I would kill such a cocky shinigami.” It hissed, as it brought its arm down.

Myungsoo gave a small smile, raising Takahane to block the blow. The blade met the Hollow’s arm.

It happened so quickly Myungsoo didn’t even realize he was wounded. The Hollow sliced right through Takahane, the zanpakuto’s blade weakening over the constant use, and the scythe went right into Myungsoo’s flesh. The next thing Myungsoo felt was pain, as if a grenade had exploded in his stomach, and he collapsed to the ground. The Hollow raised the scythe again, for a killing blow.

“Myungsoo!” He heard Sungyeol yell behind him. He tried to turn around, just briefly, to see Sungyeol use shunpo to appear right before the Hollow. The Hollow tried to strike, but Sungyeol quickly dodged the blow to stab the Hollow in the thorax. The Adjuchas then tried to fire a Cero blast from its mouth, but Sungyeol ducked his head in time.

“You should not have done that,” Sungyeol said warily to the Hollow.

“I’d do it again,” hissed the Hollow, leaping away. As it tried to make its escape, skittering across the desert floor, Sungyeol only sneered.

He returned Jiken Monju to its regular form, raising his right arm while grasping it with his left.

“Hado 88: Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!” Sungyeol yelled. An enormous bolt of blue energy sprang from his right hand, racing across the desert, striking the Hollow in the back. Even as he strained to remain conscious, Myungsoo still felt the shockwave wash across him. Myungsoo could barely see the form of the Hollow, disintegrating into ash.

Still grabbing his wounded torso, Myungsoo strained to get upright, but Sungyeol was there first, supporting Myungsoo.

“Hey, hey. hey, don’t speak,” said Sungyeol. “Let’s just get back to Soul Society.“

 

—

 

It was two days later, as Myungsoo recuperated in a 4th Division infirmary, that Sungyeol arrived to check up on him again.

“Thank you for saving me, Captain Lee,” Myungsoo stammered, as the taller man entered the room.

“Call me Sungyeol, Myungsoo,” Sungyeol responded.

Myungsoo felt his face twist in confusion, just momentarily, before recovering.

“Sungyeol, your zanpakuto. What did it do?” He asked.

“Jiken Monju is a sword that tells me what my opponent will do, once its beams attach to the enemy,” Sungyeol said. “In a fight, information is your best weapon.”

Myungsoo nodded. “So that’s how you knew where the Hollows were going to move or attack.”

“Exactly,” Sungyeol said. “And Myungsoo? Please recover quickly. You shouldn’t die on me while I still owe you a drink.”

Myungsoo smiled. “You shouldn’t underestimate me.”

“I once did.” Sungyeol gave a wave and walked out.

As Sungyeol left, Myungsoo decided he wasn’t in such a hurry to become Captain, anyways.

 

—

 

Decades later, a time period in Soul Society that was substantial despite greatly lengthened life spans in the afterlife, Myungsoo was still there in the 3rd Division.

“You really need to try to become Captain,” whined Sungjong, staring at his Lieutenant. “Do you know who is the current front-runner for Captain Jeon’s spot? Her son, Nam Woohyun. Do you know what that means? It means yet another Captain’s seat staying within the Kobuden.”

“The Kobuden [Mansion of Broad Valor] is an old and honorable family, a bit like our Captain’s family,” Myungsoo responded. “Unless you are saying that Captain Lee doesn’t deserve his seat.”

“That’s not what I’m saying, Lieutenant Kim,” pouted the younger man. “It’s that his main qualification is his family. I don’t think Lieutenant Nam even knows bankai.”

“Then he likely won’t become Captain,” Myungsoo said, trying to be nonchalant, despite Sungjong bringing up the topic of bankai and promotion once again. “And that’s none of our business. The seat can remain empty for quite some time.”

“But the captain’s seat wouldn’t be empty if you applied for the seat. It’d be filled right away. I know. I’ve been training with you for decades now. I know you’re strong enough,” Sungjong said. He shifted in his couch, watching the Lieutenant fill out the division’s paperwork with ink and brush.

“I’m not trying to become Captain, okay, 5th Seat Lee?” Myungsoo snapped, almost frustrated. “I’m happy with where I am.”

Sungjong rolled his eyes. “You could do so much better.”

As Sungjong left the room, Myungsoo could only purse his lips nervously. Hopefully Sungjong is the only man who wants me to be captain, he thought to himself.

 

—

 

He guessed wrong.

It could not have been more than a week later, when he received a neatly folded letter. As he read over the paper, Myungsoo grew puzzled at the document’s vagueness.

_To the 3rd Division Lieutenant Kim Myungsoo_

_Your request is highly unusual but not outside of regulations. It has been granted. You are to report to Sokyoku Hill at noon today so that we can proceed._

_From the 9th Division Captain Lee Howon_

Myungsoo had no idea what this meant. He didn’t write any letter to the other Captain Lee, a man so ferocious that Myungsoo wouldn’t dare approach him unless Sungyeol was right next to him. He certainly didn’t make any request.

However, it was already eleven in the morning, and he wanted to talk with the 9th Division Captain, to clear up any misunderstandings. Myungsoo raced to the Sokyoku Hill, which was notable as one of the few broad spaces in Seireitei where high-level fighters could spar.

Myungsoo arrived to the hill on time. He didn’t need to use shunpo and certainly not his shikai. He was fast enough using his normal abilities.

When he reached Sokyoku Hill, he was not surprised to see Lee Howon, standing there glaring at him.

“Captain Lee Howon, I—” Myungsoo started.

“You’ve got a lot of guts, Lieutenant Kim. You thought it would be a good idea to challenge me to show how strong you are? If you had named a weaker captain, you might have lived,” snarled the captain.

“I don’t understand, Captain Lee, I didn’t do anything,” stammered Myungsoo, taking a step backwards at Howon’s look of pure contempt.

“Maybe you’ll remember once I knock some sense into you. If you survive, that is,” responded the captain. “Descend, Oyuki [Great Snow].”

The captain’s katana took the form of a great polearm, made of white metal. Whenever Howon moved it even slightly, ice and snow trailed behind it in its wake.

“What?” Myungsoo asked again, but as soon as the words left his mouth, Howon was bearing on him quickly dashing forward. Myungsoo evaded with shunpo, but Howon was just as fast. When Myungsoo moved left, Howon caught up within a fraction of a second. When Myungsoo moved right, Howon was even faster.

“I—” Myungsoo dodged a blade. “Don’t—” Another blade. “Know what—” Two swipes from the left and right, as they skirted the edge of the hill. “You’re talking about!” Myungsoo yelled the last phrase, taking out his blade and catching Howon’s blade. Ice from Howon’s zanpakuto quickly spread and grew on Myungsoo’s blade, causing it to grow heavy. Myungsoo knew it would make Takahane, already a brittle blade, likely to snap.

“You’re really not as good at this as you think you are, Lieutenant Kim. Nobody’s going to come out and rescue you. If you want to live, you’ll have to do everything you can,” Howon responded again. “I’m perfectly willing to kill you. We have enough Lieutenants in the Gotei 13 as it stands now.”

Myungsoo’s eyes bulged. “You’d really kill me?”

“After the challenge that you sent me? I’d kill you in a heartbeat,” snapped Howon. “Now, do something that will save your life, or you’re going to die in the next five seconds.”

The captain raised his blade again, charging forward, and Myungsoo knew. There was no significant reiatsu presence within miles to watch what he would do next. There was no way he would activate his shikai. It wouldn’t be enough. He would have to do this if he wanted to live.

Myungsoo opened his eyes. “Bankai: Genyoku Takahane [Original Wing Eagle Feather].”

As Myungsoo activated his bankai, Takahane as a blade disappeared completely, taking the form of winds wrapping itself around Myungsoo like armor. Underneath the wind he wore only the shinigami’s uniform.

Howon smiled. “So maybe you do have some talent in you. But I’ll need to see if that’s a real bankai.”

“How’s this for real? Genyoku Takahane Kitakaze: Fujin no Sattomai [North Wind: Gallant Dance of the Wind God]!” Myungsoo yelled. The wind armor wrapping himself allowed Myungsoo to go far faster than he could with shunpo or his shikai. Before Howon could realize what was happening, Myungsoo was able to punch and kick the other captain, the blows catching the captain on the legs and arms. In his bankai, Myungsoo’s speed could not be matched.

Howon was not even able to land a glancing blow with his own zanpakuto. Even with shunpo, he wasn’t able to do more than blindly swipe with the polearm. To Howon’s credit, he could withstand Myungsoo’s blows, which were not strengthened by the bankai.

“You’re fast, Lieutenant Kim,” Howon said through gritted teeth. “But it’s your bad luck that you had to face me. I really hate my bankai, because it’s not meant for melee fighting at all. But it’ll be enough for you.”

Myungsoo took the time to position himself on the opposite side of the hill, as he watched Howon grab his zanpakuto.

“Bankai: Mugen Fuyu no Uguni [Snow Country of the Unending Winter].”

Before he should have been able to consciously comprehend, Myungsoo found himself racing at Howon, and he soon realized why. The moment Howon activated his bankai, a blizzard formed around Howon’s person. If Myungsoo had not advanced, he would have been blown off of the hill, possibly freezing before he even reached the ground.

Fortunately, Myungsoo’s bankai was wind-based as well, allowing him motion even as Howon’s bankai returned the hill to winter by blanketing it with snow.

“Higashikaze: Mugon Uchiwa! [East Wind: Silent Feather-fan]!” Myungsoo yelled. He motioned with his arm, such that an enormous gust of wind emanated to strike Howon and knock the man back. “I control the wind here!”

Howon got up before Myungsoo could approach, despite the gashes across his chest. A weaker captain would have been injured, but Howon seemed to relish his injury. Myungso did not expect that. But he was not surprised that one of the Gotei 13’s strongest shinigami took the force of his bankai with no major injury. Howon smirked. “I don’t need the wind. Hyoka Maiso [Glacier Burial]!” He said, raising a hand to the sky. Dozens, maybe even hundreds, of great blocks of ice appeared, ranging in size from a boulder to an entire house. They began to descend, to fall on Myungsoo.

Myungsoo paused. He knew there was no way he could have blown away one, let alone all, of the pieces of ice. There was nowhere to run. Shinigami have survived worse, Myungsoo thought. Maybe I’ll survive this one too.

“What are you doing to Myungsoo!?” Myungsoo heard a yell, turning his head. It was Sungyeol, looking furious, Myungsoo saw him for just for a split second. Sungyeol then announced his own bankai and technique name. “Jitsu Butsu Monju: Hyakuju no Ou [True Form Manjusri: King of Beasts]!”

Just as Howon’s Hyoka Maiso attack began to descend, Myungsoo watched as Sungyeol’s zanpakuto took the form of an enormous lion, taking shape literally above Myungsoo. As the blocks of ice fell, they bounced harmlessly off of Sungyeol’s bankai, which shielded Myungsoo with its body.

Howon only stared at the new enormous form.

“What’s going on? Why are you here, Captain Lee? This isn’t your fight.” He hissed.

“It’s my fight whenever you harm my Lieutenant, Howon,” snarled Sungyeol. Still wielding a zanpakuto that resembled its shikai form, Sungyeol pointed his sword at Howon. “You’re not going to harm Myungsoo. Not if I can help it.”

“You think you’re stronger than I am? Sungyeol,” said Howon, puzzled but defiant. He raised his own zanpakuto to attack, waving his zanpakuto in a way that manipulated the remaining floating ice.

Sungyeol responded by charging forward, and his bankai moved in unison with him. “Jitsu Butsu Monju—”

“Bakudo 81: Danku.”

Before either Sungyeol or Howon could attack each other or realize who just spoke, a translucent barrier formed between them. Their respective zanpakuto, Jiken Monju and Oyuki, glanced harmlessly off of the barrier.

“Stop, both of you,” said a stern voice. All three of the shinigami stared as a hand appeared, as if under an invisibility cloak. Three more shinigami walked out onto the hill, as if from thin air. Myungsoo recognized the most prominent of them, a short woman in heavy robes.

“Commander-General Jo Jinhyun!” Myungsoo said first. His former captain was there! She must be able to explain this situation.

“Commander-General, what are you doing here?” Sungyeol said in shock.

The Commander-General exited, flanked by two of the other captains. Myungsoo recognized them as the 5th and 6th Division captains.

“It’s good to see how far you’ve come, Myungsoo. I haven’t seen you since I was promoted from the 3rd Division to the 1st,” said the commander-general with a smile, before turning to Sungyeol. “I believe there has been a great misunderstanding on all of our respective parts. We were informed one week ago that Lieutenant Kim Myungsoo desired to take the captain’s exam. He was worried that his bankai would not pass the test unless he demonstrated it under combat conditions. He was to have a sparring match against Captain Lee Howon. We did not intend to let Lieutenant Kim die because of a test.”

“A test! You three didn’t look like you were about to save him!” Said Sungyeol to the Commander-General, heated. “You looked like you would let him die!”

He turned towards Howon as well. “And you had serious killing intent!”

Howon shrugged. “The Commander-General would have dealt with it.”

The Commander-General nodded. “I would have dealt with it.”

“Still!” Sungyeol said, gesticulating wildly. “If I hadn’t sensed Myungsoo’s reiatsu all the way from headquarters, who knows what would have happened?”

The 5th Division Captain spoke up. “We were under the impression that Kim Myungsoo wanted a life or death fight. We too were confused by Lieutenant Kim’s behavior. This has been a misunderstanding all around.” She turned towards Myungsoo. “I take it that you did not send the request.”

“No, Captain Yoo, I didn’t apply for the captain’s exam at all. I don’t know how this could have happened,” Myungsoo said.

The three examining captains looked at each other, and then Howon.

“In that case, this examination is terminated early,” said the Commander-General. “But Lieutenant Kim, many first-time captains are not as proficient in bankai as you are now. Even your current captain had his issues when he took this exam. If you are to ever apply for the captain’s exam, I am sure you will pass.”

She walked away followed by the other two captains.

Howon turned towards a wary Myungsoo. “No hard feelings?” He asked.

Myungsoo shook his head. “I’ll get over it.” Howon then walked away, and it was just Sungyeol and Myungsoo.

“Myungsoo,” said Sungyeol.

The Lieutenant already knew what the Captain was going to say. “I know, Sungyeol, I’ll take care of myself better next time. Captain Lee Howon won’t know how I improved so much.”

“That’s not it. Myungsoo, why don’t you want to be Captain?” Sungyeol asked.

“What?” Myungsoo asked.

“You’re proficient at kido, you’re the best at shunpo, and now I’ve learned you know bankai. You have all of the requisites to be a captain if you want,” Sungyeol asked.

“Because, Sungyeol, I don’t want to be captain!” Myungsoo yelled. “I’m happy with being the 3rd Division’s Lieutenant.” He was shocked at the sound of his own outburst. “I mean, you’re not making me be a captain, are you?”

Sungyeol laughed. “Of course not, not if you don’t want to. I’m just hurt that you didn’t tell me earlier. How long have you had a bankai?”

“About ninety years. I was just training, and one day Takahane just spoke to me,” Myungsoo said.

Sungyeol nodded. “In that case, it’s great that you have such an ability. I will really enjoy being the only captain whose Lieutenant knows bankai.”

Myungsoo smiled at the praise, and they walked back to the division headquarters together. Slowly.

 

—

 

“So it was you,” said Myungsoo, leaning back and glaring at the 5th Seat before him. “I really could have died, you know. Captain Lee Howon, indeed. Why couldn’t you have requested a nicer captain? I could have made Captain Yoo understand, if I had encountered her.”

Sungjong couldn’t meet Myungsoo’s eyes. “It’s because they would not have respected you if you fought a lesser captain. I wanted them to know how powerful you really were.”

“How did you even know I have bankai?” Myungsoo inquired. “I’ve never revealed it in front of anybody.”

“It’s because of that mission where you exterminated all of the Hollows in record time. I knew you couldn’t do that with a shikai. I just figured you must have had a bankai,” explained Sungjong.

“I see,” said Myungsoo. “Just don’t try to make me captain again, okay?”

“Why?” Sungjong asked.

“Because I’m going to be a Lieutenant as long as Sungyeol is here,” Myungsoo answered.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, please forgive this worthless and good-for-nothing writer.


End file.
